Air Commodore, the first black
person to achieve air rank in the history of the Royal Air
Force

Air Commodore David Case is the highest ranking black
officer in the Royal Air Force, and one of the most senior
black serving officers in the entire British military establishment.
He is also the director of the Department of Specialist
Ground Training at the RAF College in Cranwell, the equivalent
of Sandhurst.

Air Commodore Case came to the UK from Guyana when he
was five, and dreamed of being a pilot. However, when
it was discovered that he was long-sighted, this put an
end to his dream. Despite his disappointment, he went
to study aeronautical engineering at Queens University,
Belfast in order to work with aircrafts. He received his
commission in 1975, and was awarded the distinguished
Sword of Honour, which is bestowed upon the top cadet
officer of the year.

Besides training future generations of RAF officers, David's career has taken him to most of the RAF's UK bases and overseas. Asked about the issue of being black in the UK armed forces, his response was: - "I certainly encountered no barriers to joining. And I have reflected back over the period I have been in the service on whether I have encountered discrimination and can honestly say I cannot identify any occasion when I thought this might have been a case in point. I try to educate people by simply being who I am".